Might just not be cooking anymore. First it's the comp issues. For icebox it was mentioned their kayo was changed to sova because they couldn't fight against a defender OP (DRX), but they didn't even try to use any pop flashes to force him off. Without a flash initiator they were just struggling to take space and info when sova dart and drone can be easily breakable, very obvious against G2.

Next they didn't look like they were actively using their util and teamwork to fight for space, feels like they are regressing back to champs 2022 with braindead swings and lack of awareness (so many flank/pinches from G2 caught them unaware).

It just feels like they hit a dead end in terms of innovation. Just from what I see man. The way they introduced and played Reyna Raze on Ascent and Bind last year, and Jett Phoenix on Pearl, were amazing because they were making these unorthodox comps work with their strats. Now they look kinda lost.

Hope we get to see a banger. Actually excited for today's matches after the upsets yesterday

I wouldn't mind if PRX bomb out, if Talon gets through, I need one of them on Friday to get through man...if both Pacific teams bomb out that day it's gonna be depressing

thanks fam but we shall see if they can even make it out of groups...

Because they dont choke as bad as prx (recently at least)

They are slowly regressing back to 2022 Champs PRX and it's hard to watch

Since start of 2022 when they were playing APAC challengers then got into Masters Reykjavik 2022. Their explosiveness was refreshing to watch, Benkai walkouts were entertaining, and Jinggg/Forsaken was making Reyna/Yoru work in pro play.

They had their ups and downs, and now they just look so bad. Like where is the 2023 prx that took Pacific's first trophy, and played so damn well at champs (until choking in the grand finals)?

Yeah honestly at this point I don't know what they really need to wake up, they don't seem to have that drive anymore

Each group would now have Pacific VS EMEA, Americas vs China.

Totally agree with you, it sometimes look like they are just playing ranked once their strats get countered, the strat book looks way shallower than what they were doing in Pacific, and they keep playing with this confidence that doesn't feel justified, though I feel because of that they did managed to string a few rounds together on Lotus.

yeah G2 had so much prepped for themselves, they allowed spaces to be taken knowing they can retake it. Icy's flashes were so crazy when they fight at A, it always doesnt get broken and flashes so many people

They're not gonna recover from this man. Not landing shots, getting ready like a book, and imo sova is a downgrade to kayo in icebox. No flashes really hurts the team when taking space.

Same man, I'm here with you brother. It still stings when they had so much time to prepare but still play like today. But I'm recovering from it as we speak. The other teams and games are definitely more entertaining than what we saw just now.

G2 prepared for this way better man. I knew it would be bad when they changed kayo to sova for icebox. No flashes is so hard for retakes. They had to keep dry swinging into fights, and then they lose them.

For Lotus there were some thoughts but G2 really played their retakes on first half to perfection. Fade ults were always used in tandem with flanks, and their flashes and trades were better.

They had bad strats and bad aim today. Literally got read by a book by G2, especially on Icebox, and couldn't really shoot back for Lotus.

They don't deserve to win. Threw so many rounds man. The strats were bad, and the players weren't really shooting back.

They kept giving sites with no proper utilities to retake. Lev knew that and they were winning so many rounds off a free site

I got a laugh out of that

I think BLG with their 2-0 against NRG can be a wild card (and made people excited), and EDG has the potential to represent CN if they played like back in Masters Tokyo. Generally just excited to see more CN games on the international stage

FPX continue to prove they are worthy on the international stage, even with this loss. GG to both teams, it was a banger BO3

That's going to haunt them once more man

Dude it was like seeing PRX man no cap

Thanks DSGfan for speaking the truth (letsgo DSG in Ascension as well)

So says the guy who's up on vlr at 4am :)

Yeah and not everyone wants to watch the 1st match. Some of the teams played the 2nd match of the day. You also have the opportunity to watch the games after you wake up. Calling others a kid is funny because you're the one swearing and whining about timezones. It's time for bed buddy, get off the internet, get a good rest and tune in tomorrow to see whether your team won.

Thanks for sharing. I wonder what this kid has to refute the receipts. And these timings were just for the first game of the day. If it goes OT the 2nd game is like 3-4am, sometimes I went to sleep just as the Sun came up.

The star duelists have made amazing plays in VCT so far, not the one taps or t-bags, but they were definitely entertaining. The one that comes to mind immediately is texture OP flicking the same location twice on different games on Ascent.

Well Governor and Narrate did get poached over to the other regions because their potential was seen, so there's no denying that. But at the same time we can't help it when there are also individuals like Karon who was supposedly plucked from rank and going on a run in his first year as a pro player.

One of the co-founder (iirc) of Talon asked what was the max duration they could sign a player for, and this question was for Primmie. They want to secure a talent when they see it, so yeah good luck with Chinese team trying to poach him over (unless they really throw the bag, but I also believe China with their large population definitely have some hidden gems waiting to be found)

Thanks for putting the " " in when you wrote fans.

Honestly sometimes he's really just not hitting his shots, or the opponents are better with utils or swinging him together. But when he can hit those shots damn he's insane.

But regardless of how well he plays going forward, he's still a huge inspiration for me when he levelled up massively from 2022 Reykjavik to 2022 Copenhagen (and continued to prove he can clutch rounds)

Was it 24th July? I miss Benkai's walkout sometimes

Yeah definitely. Screw up your sleep schedule for the matches like us Pacific fans for the past few years and you'll definitely be able to watch the games.

(But in all honesty go get some proper sleep)

Just give us exciting games. With how shaky they looked against DRX (credit where credit is due DRX looked really prepped against them), I'm not hoping for too much but yeah, hope it's gonna be a banger

How do you differentiate S and A, from your description they feel kinda similar?

Also I would think GenG Lotus and PRX Sunset would be S

The champs songs so far gets to me the more I listen to them.

Personally can't get into star walking with the lyrics though (maybe it's just me).

Can't slow me down - Jett hype song is pretty lit for me too.

Wait....imagine they both bring out their Masters Trophy (if Sen tries to bring it over to Korea) for their opening match. It's gonna be epic. They did it for their opening matches in their own regions respectively after the Masters win.

Trust 🙏

We are so cooked

We are so cooked

Did you even watch the games, Bind and Lotus were pretty insane from both sides

Saw part of Bind and Lotus and the rounds were really intense. I'm just glad this new DRX team has stepped up a lot, hope the Pacific teams would play well in champs

WP by DRX everyone locked in today

WP DRX went crazy

They knew PRX gonna win anyways

HE ONLY NEEDS 3 AGENTS

Just need basic Vandal for an ace

He's always arguing with ghosts

The risk is high because the inevitable outcome is the Jett will die. This round is confirmed going to be x v 4 after this play. What isn't set in stone is whether the Jett will actually have minimum 1 kill to balance out the numbers- in which case it would be a whiff.

We have seen pro players whiff even point blank shots, so even if they have done this in scrim and practice etc, we know it won't 100% translate into an actual match.

I've reached acceptance. International bo5 and PRX choking/trolling is just reality at this point. For me now it doesn't really matter whether they win nor not anymore now that GenG lifted the first Pacific trophy. Just gonna support them to see their unique W gaming style.